Bitch Media - feminismhttp://bitchmagazine.org/taxonomy/term/5836/0
enBitch Popaganda: Complaint Department Editionhttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/bitch-popaganda-complaint-department-edition
<p><center><img src="/sites/default/files/popagandalogo.jpg" width="500" height="91" alt="popagandalogo.jpg" /></center></p>
<p>Welcome back to another episode of Bitch Popaganda! Listen in as Sara, Jonanna, and Kelsey debate the merits of <a href="http://www.doublex.com/section/life/noncomplaining-project-whats-wrong-our-happiness-gurus">The Noncomplaining Project</a>, women's happiness, and young people <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/fashion/08cross.html?_r=1">and their darned expressive clothing</a>. You can hear the episode right here on our site, or <a href="http://www.itunes.com/podcast?id=330195674">subscribe to Bitch Media</a> on iTunes and download it there. You can also access our audio files by visiting our page at <a href="http://www.archive.org/details/BitchPopagandaEp9">archive.org</a>.</p>
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<p>Articles discussed in this episode:</p>
<p>- <a href="http://www.doublex.com/section/life/noncomplaining-project-whats-wrong-our-happiness-gurus">The Noncomplaining Project</a><br />
- <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/20/opinion/20dowd.html">Blue is the New Black (on women's unhappiness)</a><br />
- <a href="http://worldhaveyoursay.wordpress.com/2009/11/11/anything-wrong-with-this-dress/">World Have Your Say: Anything wrong with this dress? (Featuring our own Andi Zeisler!)</a><br />
- <a href="/post/douchebag-decree-austin-couch-principal-slut-shamer">Austin Couch, Principal Slut-Shamer</a><br />
- <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/08/fashion/08cross.html?_r=1">Can a Boy Wear a Skirt to School?</a></p>
<p>Our faves this week:</p>
<p>- Jonanna is loving <a href="/post/tv-crush-of-the-week-jane-lynch">Jane Lynch</a><br />
- Kelsey has mixed feelings about <a href="http://www.bravotv.com/project-runway">Project Runway</a><br />
- Sara hearts <a href="http://www.teennick.com/ntv/shows/characters.php?id=67&amp;character_id=770&#charInfo">Declan</a> on <i>Degrassi: The Next Generation</i> (especially those eyebrows): <img src="http://www.teennick.com/media/shows/degrassi/declan_s9_220x130.jpg" /></p>
<p>Thanks for tuning in! As always, leave your feedback in the comments section!</p>
http://bitchmagazine.org/post/bitch-popaganda-complaint-department-edition#commentsBitch PopagandaclothingDegrassi: The Next GenerationfeminismJane LynchNoncomplaining ProjectpodcastProject Runwaywomen's happinessFeminist PodcastFri, 13 Nov 2009 21:40:55 +0000Kelsey Wallace2512 at http://bitchmagazine.orgThe Transcontinental Disability Choir: Glee-ful Appropriationhttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/glee-ful-appropriation
<p><img title="promotional poster for Glee, showing the upper torso of Artie, a white student with large glasses and a beige sweater. Standing behind him is another student, Puck, who is also white and wearing a blue tee shirt. Puck is making the 'loser' symbol with his hand placed in front of Artie's forehead, implying that Artie is a loser. Text reads: 'glee: a biting comedy for the underdog in all of us.' Image does not depict Artie's wheelchair, although this is a focal point of his character." src="/sites/default/files/u3039/gleeloser.jpg" alt="promotional poster for Glee, showing the upper torso of Artie, a white student with large glasses and a beige sweater. Standing behind him is another student, Puck, who is also white and wearing a blue tee shirt. Puck is making the 'loser' symbol with his hand placed in front of Artie's forehead, implying that Artie is a loser. Text reads: 'glee: a biting comedy for the underdog in all of us.' Image does not depict Artie's wheelchair, although this is a focal point of his character." width="337" height="500" /></p>
<p>The much anticipated Very Special Disability Episode of <em>Glee</em>, "Wheels" aired last night. And already the rave reviews are flooding in. It's "edgy," it's "a game changer," it's "controversial," it's "moving," it's "thought provoking." Twitter is aflutter with praise. </p>
<p>Did everyone else watch the same episode I watched? Because what I got out of "Wheels" was tokenization and appropriation. I wrote three pages of notes while watching and they were filled with expressions of rage and horror, because this episode pretty much encapsulated, for me, everything that is wrong with the way <em>Glee</em> handles people living in marginalized bodies. </p>
<p>This show has been criticized from the start by activists decrying the use of <a href="http://disabledfeminists.com/2009/11/05/and-if-this-keeps-up-there-wont-be-any/">crip drag</a>, and the tokenization of minorities. The mainstream media caught on this week, releasing a flood of articles expressing shock and surprise about how disability activists were angry about <em>Glee</em>. This episode was evidently supposed to put it all to rest: See, they are actually sensitive to issues which people in marginalized bodies face and they aren't just using people with disabilities as props!</p>
<p>Oh, except that they are. <em>Glee's</em> method of handling minorities is to devote an episode to one minority storyline, and then to shove that minority into the background. We've had the Very Special Gay Episode, the Very Special Black Episode, and now the Very Special Disability Episode, which means that we can go back to focusing on the white, conventionally attractive leads. Who are, of course, the draw, because the most common argument used to justify exclusion of minority groups from film and television is that no one wants to watch them. </p>
<p>There were so many problems with the way this episode handled disability that it's almost impossible to know where to start (truly, earlier drafts of this ballooned into thousands and thousands of words). It hit a number of major tropes for pretty much a hat trick of disability fail. We got "disability is inspiring," "disability is a burden," "appropriation of disability for a Very Special Learning Experience," "faking disability," and "see my sister has a disability so I'm not a bigot." </p>
<p>Here's the thing about tokenization, which is what this episode specialized in: It does nothing to advance the cause of people who live in marginalized bodies. Hiring an actress with Down Syndrome for a single throwaway guest role is not including actors with disabilities. Centering a disability plot around able bodied characters is not including people with disabilities. Continuing to use crip drag (and having the actor unabashedly say "this isn't something I can fake") is not including people with disabilities. Painting accessibility as a hardship, a burden, and "special treatment" is also not including people with disabilities. </p>
<p>Using a stunt double for wheelchair tricks and not admitting it is not including people with disabilities. Indeed, acting like you invented wheelchair choreography is not including people with disabilities. It's very clear that an experienced wheelchair user was used as a stunt double for some of the more demanding tricks, and that the choreographer on the final number was not used to working with wheelchair users. Did you know that <a href="http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=wheelchair+dance&amp;search_type=&amp;aq=f">wheelchair dance</a> is a competitive sport?</p>
<p>I want to touch briefly on some intersectionality fail that happened in this show; these are not specifically disability related, but it still made me cringe. Kurt's throwaway line about "at least I won't get a girl pregnant" which flew directly in the face of recent research showing that <a href="http://www.blogher.com/teen-pregnancy-rates-higher-glbt-teens-heterosexual-peers">GLBT teens are more likely to experience teen pregnancy than heterosexual teens</a>? Fail. Mr. Shu silencing Mercedes when she asked why she wasn't being considered for a role? Fail. Continuing to depict women as lying, manipulative, evil harridans? Fail.</p>
<p>Did <em>Glee</em> get anything right this week?</p>
<p>Actually, yeah. I like that they at least tried to depict disabled sexuality, although they did it very crudely and awkwardly. One of my major criticisms of the show has been that they have not shown Artie demonstrating interest in anyone, or anyone being interested in Artie, and that changed this week. I also liked the depiction of Kurt's dad, in some ways; I like that his father is willing to support him and to go to bat for him. But two small decent things do not overwhelm the monumental amount of fail that happened on Fox last night. </p>
<p><em>Glee</em>: Same shit, different episode. </p>
http://bitchmagazine.org/post/glee-ful-appropriation#commentsdisabilityfailfeminismFoxGleetelevisionTranscontinental Disability ChoirSocial CommentaryThu, 12 Nov 2009 19:22:43 +0000s.e. smith2507 at http://bitchmagazine.orgR.I.P. Captain Lou Albano: Feminist Antiheroes 'R' Good Enoughhttp://bitchmagazine.org/post/rip-captain-lou-albano-feminist-antiheroes-r-good-enough
<p>This morning, professional wrestler, Cyndi Lauper video star, and feminist antihero <a href="http://www.popeater.com/2009/10/14/captain-lou-albano-dead-at-76/">Captain Lou Albano</a> passed away at the age of 76. For you youngsters out there who may not be familiar with Captain Lou (or even for those of us who are), you will absolutely not regret taking 12 minutes out of your day to watch this epic Lauper/Albano collaboration video, <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5kMi9tvuuZY">"Goonies 'R' Good Enough"</a>:</p>
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<p>The epic tale! The always-confusing facial rubber bands! Captain Lou! Cyndi Lauper! <i>The Goonies!</i> It doesn't get any better than this, folks. That is unless you consider Captain Lou Albano's staging of a pro-wrestling event wherein he and Cyndi Lauper battled on MTV over sexist remarks called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brawl_to_End_it_All">The Brawl to End it All</a> a better story.</p>
<p>That's right. In my searching for some background info to share with you about Captain Lou, I learned of an altercation between he and Cyndi Lauper that became truly awesome (seriously, by the end of it Hulk Hogan's career was launched and Mr. T, Liberace, and Muhammad Ali appeared at Wrestlemania together, so when I say awesome I mean it). Apparently, Albano made a sexist remark about Lauper, claiming that he jumpstarted her career by appearing in several of her music videos. Lauper retaliated in public in a WWF (read: clearly scripted and staged) attack on Albano that resulted in the two of them agreeing to pit the female pro wrestlers of their choice against one another in a televised battle.</p>
<p>The match, entitled "The Brawl to End it All," was between <a href="http://www.earvolution.com/2009/07/thursdays-earful-brawl-to-end-it-all.asp">The Fabulous Moolah and Wendi Richter</a> and was televised on MTV. Here is a video clip of the infamous bout that took place in the name of sexism. Be forewarned: The following video is full of pro-wrestling shenanigans like Lauper and Albano coming into the ring in the middle of the match. Excitement!</p>
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<p>We feminists can be proud of the fact that Richter (Lauper's wrestler) pinned Moolah (Albano's pick) and won a battle in the name of sexism. MTV can be proud of the fact that this event earned them a 9.0 Nielsen rating, making it the most-watched program in the history of MTV. Says <a href="http://www.earvolution.com/2009/07/thursdays-earful-brawl-to-end-it-all.asp">Earvolution</a> of the match:</p>
<blockquote><p>The broadcast snagged a phenomenal rating for the fledgling video channel, at the time its largest, and sadly may have planted the seeds for non-video, non-music related programming amongst the network heads. While it didn't exactly help Lauper's career, it really didn't do any damage to it either. She would make an occasional appearance for the promotion over the next couple months, culminating at the original Wrestlemania, where she, Mr. T, Liberace, Billy Martin and Muhammad Ali would feature prevalently in the organizations inaugural version of its yearly extravaganza.</p>
<p>A quarter century later, professional wrestling has grown from a series of regional promotions into a field dominated my Vince McMahon and the WWE (neé WWF) through a chain of events that can be traced directly back to Cyndi Lauper's appearance. It's an unlikely legacy for the diminutive singer, who's name is no longer uttered or remembered in pro wrestling circles with the respect that it deserves.</p></blockquote>
<p>What a crazy story! And it looks like Lauper can be credited not only with a great music career, but also with the following: Winning the battle against sexism (It's over! We won!), launching Hulk Hogan's career (and thus inspiring <i>Brooke Knows Best</i>, so she might not want to take credit there), bringing the most bizarre collection of celebrities imaginable together for the first Wrestlemania (did Liberace and Mr. T share jewelry?), and planting the seeds for MTV's transition from a music television channel to the home of shows like <i>Homewrecker</i> and <i>Sorority Life</i>. Thanks Cyndi!</p>
<p>Of course, at the root of all of this was Captain Lou Albano, spurring Lauper on with his scripted sexist remarks and awe-inspiring video appearances. So take a minute (or 12) today to appreciate this bizarre wrestler-turned-video-star-turned-feminist-antihero. Captain Lou, you and your facial rubber bands will be missed. </p>
http://bitchmagazine.org/post/rip-captain-lou-albano-feminist-antiheroes-r-good-enough#commentsCaptain Lou AlbanoCyndi LauperfeminismGooniesThe Brawl to End it AllwrestlingWWFTVWed, 14 Oct 2009 17:17:57 +0000Kelsey Wallace2356 at http://bitchmagazine.org